Changing Pace
by Nymphadora-CullenBAU
Summary: "I tried to stop them, I really did, but there was nothing I could do." A conversation in a diner late at night reveals to Hotch that he may not be able to protect his team from outside forces.


_**I wanted to quickly finish and post this; it's an example fic for my season six finale contest. You don't have to vote for it, but I will accept votes for it. I will expect more entries through Sunday, so again, feel free to enter something. Unbeta'd work is appreciated and welcomed, as is anything beta'd.**_

_**I don't own CM; just pla with the character in the meantime.**_

...

_"Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever." ~Keri Russell_

The diner was empty, save for a young man eating a late-night breakfast by the door and a serious-looking party of two in the corner. The waitress brushed past the eater, tray in hand, handing him the bill before approaching the corner booth, where the two serious-looking people sat in deep discussion.

She set the tray down at another table before handing the coffee cups to the two occupants. She was about to ask if they wanted anything more, but the woman shook her head and waved the waitress away. She complied, eager to get away from the business-like feel of the table and the customers. The files that the man was paging through looked serious, and she didn't want any trouble.

Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner stared down at the files before him. His entire frame was filled with the ice-cold feeling of foreboding that came only with a situation such as this. Across from him, her face expressionless and neutral, but with her eyes and posture betraying her true feelings in regard to the situation at hand, was Chief Erin Strauss.

"Are you saying that the brass is splitting up my team?" Hotch asked in exasperation; he did not want this for his agents. They worked well together, they were a family. Separating them was perhaps the worst idea that could be come up with.

"That was not what I was intending to say; if anything, it is a compromising situation placed on my shoulders due to budget cuts within the Bureau and the talents each member of your team brings to the table. Money is not an excuse to break up a team as fine as yours," was Strauss' reply. "Most of these reassignments would go into effect only if the Director ordered them to become effective. For other orders… I tried to stop them, I really did, but there was nothing I could do."

Hotch raised his hands in defeat before folding them around his torso. "And these orders were?" he growled.

Strauss picked up the files, flipping through them again.

"Apparently, the director announced in a rather discreet manner that due to budget cuts within the Bureau, he may have to let some agents go. This includes every agent within the FBI, Agent Hotchner, not just your team. I'm merely delivering the news that there are other agencies and jobs for your team."

Hotch just glared at her, looking as though he wanted to do anything but listen to this. Strauss looked at him for a moment before continuing.

"As you already know, the New York field office has a renewed interest in Agent Morgan. He would be given his own unit to head if he were to accept the job."

"Morgan will make a fine Unit Chief," Hotch admitted. "But I know he won't take the job, even if I gave him my consent."

Strauss ignored him. "Agent Rossi would be transferred to the Academy; he would be teaching some of the profiling classes as well as some firearms and self-defense classes. Agent Seaver is being removed from your team effective immediately; she will be transferred to a White Collar Unit in New York. Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia will remain under your command, and Agent Jareau has been called back to the Bureau from the Pentagon, and will be reinstated under your command within the next few days."

"Wait," Hotch interrupted. "Ashley's being transferred, but JJ's coming back? How does this translate with the budget cuts?"

Strauss looked up from her files. "The director and I believe that Agent Jareau is more experienced than Cadet Seaver."

"Seaver is a _profiler,_" Hotch replied. "She may be new, but she's learning. Give her a couple years, and she'll be just as seasoned an agent as Reid or Morgan."

Strauss looked at her notes once again. "I already told you, some of these reassignments have nothing to do with the cuts and are out of my hands. I tried everything, but there was nothing I could do."

Hotch sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and pointer finger. "Are there any others?" he asked, resigned.

Strauss sighed. "Just one more. Agent Reid has been requested by Interpol to help Clyde Easter with a task force set up to find Ian Doyle. They would want him on a plane to London within 24 hours of the Director's final decision in case someone leaked his involvement to Doyle or any of Doyle's men."

Hotch was already shaking his head before Strauss completed her announcement. "No. Absolutely not," he snarled. "It will not happen. I won't allow it."

"It's a good position," Strauss pointed out. "And you just said so yourself, he's a seasoned agent."

"Yes, Reid is a seasoned agent," Hotch replied. "But he's young. Putting him in a task force to hunt down an international terrorist would be like serving him up on a silver platter to that same terrorist. Doyle targeted this team before, and he won't hesitate to do it again. I assume you read the reports on what happened in Boston? My team worked the profile. We saw what Doyle did to the members of Easter's last team."

"I did," Strauss whispered. "We lost an extraordinary agent in Emily Prentiss. But with or without her, Doyle has to be brought to justice. Clyde Easter has asked for an agent within the Bureau who has worked closely with Emily, and would have asked for you if it wasn't for the fact that you were a Unit Chief. We lent him some of your case files, and he came back to us requesting Dr. Reid's presence."

"What if I said no?" Hotch asked. "I know that Reid gets offers from colleges and universities almost every day; what if I had him take one of those positions instead of going for the Interpol assignment?"

"It wouldn't matter," Strauss replied. "As soon as the Director released the names of those agents he was letting go, they would more than likely be snapped up by those agencies that requested them, if they were requested. Besides, it was either that or a CIA think tank, and… I will not do that to him. He's too gifted for a think tank; he'd never get out if he got into one."

"So the New York office would take Morgan?"

"Morgan would have a choice to take the New York office; Dr. Reid would have almost no say in the matter. The only way he wouldn't go would be if Doyle was caught in the time it took the director to make his decision, or if something happened to make Dr. Reid unable to perform in the field."

Hotch didn't say anything; he knew what could easily put Reid out of commission. Reid had always hinted that there was a possibility that he may have inherited schizophrenia, and that it was only a matter of time before his mind turn against him.

Resigned, Hotch stood up. "Morgan already knows about New York. What should I tell the others?"

"Nothing yet," Strauss answered. "The appropriate agencies and offices will contact them within the week to let them know what their offers are. Also, I want you to hold on; that project I told you about before is heating up, and it's only a matter of time until I need you to help man my post."

Hotch set the money down on the table for his unconsumed coffee, watching Strauss. "Is that all, Ma'am?"

Strauss nodded, clearly distracted. Hotch grabbed his jacket and briefcase, heading toward the door of the diner.

"…Aaron!"

He turned to see Strauss standing by the booth he had just vacated, watching him.

"…Good luck," she said.

_"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family" ~Anthony Brandt_

...

_A/N: I hope you liked it! :D_

_Please review! :D_

_*~N_CBAU~*_


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